Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Sun sun sun, here it comes!

This is really turning out to be a week of innovation.

Despite the fact that I can proudly shower with the same amount of water as some American toilets flush with (1.5gal / 6l), I (still) wallow in misery and self-hatred at my use of plastic bottles.

Then, in what can only be described as epiphany, I realised that I can stop buying plastic bottles completely. I don't even need to buy water at all. I can solar disinfect all the water I need! After all, if there's one thing this place has, it's sun. I'm never going to buy any more drinking water, ever!

I can't believe I've known about this for so long but have never applied it. I'm starting today.

(In case any of you are worried about the whole plastic bottle business, turns out that PET bottles are safe for SODIS)

-

Here is the article text (from SODIS website)

Indian study confirms that PET bottles for SODIS use are safe

29th of June 2010 - Samuel Luzi

In India, already more than one quarter million people use the SODIS method to treat their drinking water. However, especially in India, reports on hazardous substances in PET bottles have caused uncertainty among users and prevent a rapid dissemination of the method. In particular the family of plasticisers has recently given rise to discussion. While no plasticisers are used in the manufacture of PET, traces of these substances have already been detected in mineral water from glass and PET bottles. In 2008, Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research examined the risks involved in the application of the SODIS method (Schmid et al 2008). A recent study by the Indian Institute of Technology in Chennai with PET bottles from India now confirms the results of the Empa study: during the SODIS process, only very small plasticiser quantities are released in the water, and the WHO limiting values for drinking water are never exceeded. Therefore, the SODIS method does not constitute a health risk if applied correctly – the people in India can safely continue to drink their SODIS water.

Certificate from the Department of Civil Engineering, India [pdf]
Project Report, Department of Civil Engineering, India [pdf]

No comments: